My good friend and neighbor is a tree guy and tomorrow they are taking down a three trunk river birch in the neighborhood. He told me one trunk is about 18" dia. and the other two are about 12-14". He asked me if I was interested. Don't have to hit me in the head with a tire iron - Hell yes! I've no experience with river birch, anyone here have any opinions and/or experience with it?
Both Sandhillbilly and buZZsaw BRAD have scored some in the relatively recent past. I only have experience with black, yellow and white birch. As with any birch, get it processed right away and it should make decent firewood for you.
On the low end btu wise for birches, but decent for shoulder season wood. Get it split and covered ASAP as it goes to punk fast. Heavy when green and very light when dry. Fast growing yard tree that most folks plant too close to their house. Ill take again if easy, but wouldnt go out of my way for it. I was disappointed with it compared to "normal" black & yellow birch. This was my thread Buck Mystree Birch? Need ID.
I haven’t burned any of it yet, cepten a couple Swedish candles I made. Probably burn some of it this winter. Processes pretty decent. I also planted one this spring ( probably to close to the house) it also has 3 stems but one isn’t doing as well as the other 2. Really cool looking bark as they get older. I know this don’t help much but It is the extent of my experience with it Grab what you can and you’ll know first hand.
Awww man, you've bursted my bubble! I read some stuff on the interwebs that stated it was great stuff. But I trust you. Phooey! https://theyardable.com/river-birch...ttest burning birch,will burn long and steady.
Sorry my friend. Maybe there are different varieties of it??? I was just as enthused as you were until a few months later when the rounds i went to split had started to punk and a few months later when the splits were feather light. Cut, split, stack and burn next Fall.
It didnt hand split easy even on the straight rounds. I had to half a few to load when i cut it. Hydroed the rest.
I haven't dealt too much with the River variety. The other Birches I have. Black Birch is high end, high BTU firewood. Yellow is still pretty good, not as good as Black, but comparable in BTU's to Ash I'd say. I dont' bother with White Birch. They all rot fairly quickly and need to be split quickly or at least unzipped. River has some of the most interesting looking bark of any tree imo. Nice score!
